HID - Which One's!

[GregD-UK]

Hi all,

Decided to go for a HID conversion on my dipped + main light. Ebay lists squillions from £14.95 from china (probably where most r made now!) to friggin £99! Firstly, which one, personal choice I know, but, must be a middle of the road one that someone has fitted and found to be reasonable...

Secondly, not clued up in light dept, but, H4? H7? 5000K or 6000K or even 10,000K which do I need, help

Cheers,

Ur friendly lens guy.

[D-Rider]

Falco is H7

The 5000K etc essentially dictates the colour - the higher the number the bluer the light. Bluer does not mean brighter - the opposite in fact. Of the numbers you list the 5000K will be the brightest and closes to daylight colour.

As for which to buy - well I got mine second-hand off ebay for £23 - was a bit of a bargain. The brand is Pilot and the previous owner took it off his Futura when he changed bikes.

[Aladinsaneuk]

I went for 60k

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/OMG-SO-COOL-CAR - delivered in less than a week

am impressed with the kit - BUT

I think you will find that you will not have enough space to fit 3 ballasts on the falco.... i think dipped beam is what most of us do....

I will be selling the spare kit shortly, though another person has asked for first refusal....

[D-Rider]

I think you will find that you will not have enough space to fit 3 ballasts on the falco.... i think dipped beam is what most of us do....

Absolutely.

I know it has been done but I think the disadvantages outweigh the benefits. As well as the problem of hiding 3 ballasts, there's the "feature" that HIDs take a few seconds to reach brightness - most of us want our main beams there instantly.

To avoid the problem when switching to dip beam, do the wiring mod that keeps it on when the main beams are on - then it never goes off if you have the lights on. This also gives better lighting on main beam and it's less off an issue that you haven't got HID mains. As I've mentioned before , some of the 80% brighter bulbs may be the way to go for the mains.

If it's any help, I've posted up my HID ballast installation and the lighting wiring mod.

[Fausto]

Sorry to be lazy but to save me searching - do the HID lights use less / same / more power ?

Just thinking of the drain on an already dodgy system.

[D-Rider]

Sorry to be lazy but to save me searching - do the HID lights use less / same / more power ?

Just thinking of the drain on an already dodgy system.

Much more light for less power - once they're going they run at about 35W rather than the 55W of normal headlight bulbs.

At startup, while the ballast is building up voltage, they do consume more power - but this state doesn't last for long.

[Fausto]

Thanks D R.

Sounds like a win/win situation....... if you ignore the cost.

.....and the fiddle

.....and the general ok-ness of the original light

.....and the additional hassle if you need to get to that area again for whatever reason

[Aladinsaneuk]

just finished fitting mine

is actually fairly straight forward

My kit had a bracket to mount it, and that helped.

you have to take the upper fairing off

sort the cables out, and install the HID bulb

I mounted the bracket off the middle securing bolt for the instrument cluster and then used two cable ties to run it along the horizental round bar that sits under the fairing and in front of the headstock - is nice and secure now :)

is it worth it - yes, I think so :)

[D-Rider]

Thanks D R.

Sounds like a win/win situation....... if you ignore the cost.

.....and the fiddle

.....and the general ok-ness of the original light

.....and the additional hassle if you need to get to that area again for whatever reason

.... and the fact that fitting aftermarket HID lights may not be 100% legal (think it's a grey area ..... but not so grey when you turn them on - boom boom!)

[GregD-UK]

Hi all,

Well, looks like thru general opinion, that the HID's r the way forward to tell ppl that u r on the road and can give them a free suntan to-boot

Bigun + myself r gonna split a set and join forces and maybe a few sherbets to attack the fitting on a collective front....

Thankx for the advice + help guys

Later,

Ur friendly lens guy.

[Aladinsaneuk]

well, someone asked how i did mine:



i think you can see how i have tucked it away

(and yes, that is an old mille steering damper that was lost and needed a new home :) )

now just have to do the wiring mod to keep the dip on with the full beam.... and the main wiring mod - if i can be bothered!

[bigun]

I've hidden mine behind the dash. You can just see the bottom of it. Suppose its nearly in the same position as yrs actually. Took some doing tho, there's not much room!

As for the wiring mod to keep dip on with the mains, I haven't done that yet but my HID doesn't seem to have a delay as such once its on and warmed up. I'll have a play over the weekend now my bike is fixed and see what its like in practice.